There are many types of products available for the storage and dispensing of flexible mediums such as cables, cords, tubes, and hoses. However, all these systems have a drawback in that, once stored; only one end of the medium is usefully accessible. For example, an electrical cable has a plug at one end and a socket at the other end. Winding the cable on a reel places one end under multiple windings and results in being able to only access the plug or socket, depending on which is outer-most. It is often necessary only to deploy a short length of cable but the user is forced to unwind the complete cable. Invariably, this leads to a coiled and tangled cable.
Some storage devices have a means of dispensing cable therefrom. However, none of these have the means of dispensing the whole length of the cable. For example, there are spring-loaded extension cables that can be connected to a telephone jack that extend from an end of a housing. However, the cable is not continuous, meaning that each end of the cable can only be drawn for a limited distance, usually half the total length of the cable. There are other devices that have cables coiled around a core. However, the cable can only be extended from one end.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a storing and dispensing system or apparatus that allows for the cable to be stored around the center tube from both ends and also to be dispensed from either end partially or fully.
Some storage devices have a crank attached to a storage reel. This facilitates retrieval but does not straighten the cable.
Accordingly, another object of the present invention is to provide a storing and dispensing system or apparatus that incorporates a means of straightening the cable during the storage and dispensing process.